Saturday in the Park-SXSW

As I was drawing my fake tattoos on before leaving for another day in the field, I was stirred to picture-taking-level excitement by the appearance of a Tapes n Tapes video on television. SXSW played no small part in their ascent and now it is someone else's turn to be Tapes n Tapes. But whose turn is it?

Yeasayer? They sounded so nice I watched them twice. The second time it was at the Mess With Texas party at Waterloo Park. By then, singer Chris Keating's nose was apple-red and he apologized for having a damaged voice. It didn't sound damaged to me, but with all the sampled effects and the vocal contributions by the rest of the band, there's maybe some camouflage going on.

Duffy? She's a UK hottie doing soul, much buzzed-about but ultimately not raved-over. Maybe we are satisfied by what we got from Amy Winehouse and another round doesn't seem like anything to get excited about. Everyone turned out at Stubb's to watch her and puzzle it out. If I saw her in a casino lounge it might raise my eyebrows. Wait, what would I be doing in a casino, gambling is like another form of math as far as I'm concerned. But in that environment her safe, bland packaging might not have seemed like such a downer. You know what makes perfect sense? Wikipedia's assertion that she came in second on the Welsh version of American Idol. She has that kind of vibe exactly. Although she closed with "Mercy," and it was not unhot.